1<£;P0RT OF THE PRESlDliNT, IQII. 9 



tory, Albany, N. Y., during the months April to June. The amount of work 

 accomplished in this brief space of time is quite unparalleled in the annals 

 of astronomy. This signal success is attributable chiefly to the carefully 

 matured plans of the Director of the Department and to the highly trained 

 corps of observers who carried out those plans. Great credit is due to Prof. 

 R. H. Tucker, astronomer in charge of the corps, for his rapid and effective 

 accomplishment of so arduous an enterprise. It is fitting, also, in this con- 

 nection, to again acknowledge our indebtedness to the officials of the Argen- 

 tine Government for uniform courtesy and for very substantial aid in the 

 complex business incident to the expedition. In illustration of this admira- 

 ble spirit and of the cosmopolitan appreciation of astronomical science, it is 

 likewise worthy of record that, on the completion of the work in question, 

 the citizens of San Luis gave a dinner in honor of Professor Tucker and 

 presented to him a gold medal happily designed to commemorate the scien- 

 tific and the humanistic importance of the event. As an additional memento 

 of the occasion and as a more general expression of appreciation and good- 

 will, the seventy-seven participants at the dinner signed an address to the 

 Institution and commissioned Professor Tucker to bring it to the office of 

 administration. A translation of this address is printed herewith : 



San Luis, April 2, igii. 

 The President oe the Carnegie Institution, 

 Dr. R. S. Woodward, 



Washington, D. C, U. S. A. 



The City of San Luis has been honored by the installation, at the 

 foot of its mountains, of one of the historic telescopes of the world, 

 for the purpose of recording a chapter in advanced science. The 

 horizon of our pampa, parting its curtain of clouds, has freely al- 

 lowed to be pictured the beautiful constellations of its sky. 



It is most gratifying to us to recognize the excellence of the work 

 done at the Observatory of San Luis, and its great usefulness for 

 the advancement of astronomy. 



The plan of Professor Boss of Albany, Director of the Depart- 

 ment of Meridian Astrometry, has been executed with complete 

 efficiency by the staff' of the Observ^atory : Messrs. R. H. Tucker, 

 A. J. Roy, W. B. Varnum, M. L. Zimmer, R. F. Sanford, P. T. 

 Delavan, J. M. Fair, M. I. Roy, L. Z. Mearns, and H. Jenkins. 



The Carnegie Institution has in this manner linked the name of 

 San Luis with posterity, and our people, thus distinguished, have 

 expressed their spontaneous feelings towards Prof. R. H. Tucker, 

 by offering him a gold medal and a public banquet on this occasion. 



The citizens of San Luis, with these sentiments, send their most 

 cordial greetings to the honored President of that Institution, rec- 

 ognizing its noble mission of stimulating the cultivation of the Sci- 

 ences which most honor the progress of humanity. 



For reasons set forth in my report of a year ago, the construction of a 

 vessel specially designed to meet the pressing needs of the Department of 

 Marine Biology, at a cost of $25,000, was authorized by the Executive Com- 

 mittee at its meeting of October 18, 1910. Accordingly a bid of $15,000, 



